Legal News

Ex-Pat Lawyers in Tokyo Head for the Border

By Ashby Jones

A week ago today, shortly after the earthquake struck off the coast of Japan, we blogged an American Lawyer story on the lawyers who work in some of Tokyo’s largest buildings. After the quake, many of them were told to stay put, as office buildings in Tokyo were, the thinking went, the safest place to ride out an expected wave of aftershocks.

What a difference a week makes.

American Lawyer reporter Tony Lin checked back in on BigLaw lawyers in Tokyo this week and found a vastly different attitude. Writes Lin: “Expatriate lawyers have joined the exodus of foreigners from radiation-threatened Tokyo, and a number of international law firms have temporarily relocated staff or closed offices.”

The reason behind the changing attitude, of course: the threat has changed dramatically, from aftershocks to nuclear fallout.

Lin cites Bloomberg in reporting private equity giant Blackstone Group has closed its Tokyo office for a week and offered to relocate its 28 employees and their families. Other multinationals like BMW AG and BNP Paribas have taken similar steps.

Morrison & Foerster’s office, one of the largest of any international firm, was at half its normal head count of around 100 expatriate and Japanese lawyers. Morrison & Foerster relocated around 20 lawyers further south to the city of Nagoya, while many of the firm’s Western lawyers decided to leave the country for a while.

Baker & McKenzie partner Alexander Jampel told Lin that he was still in Tokyo but that many Western partners at his firm had also left the country with their families. He said the situation was calm, but there was definite concern about the Fukushima plants.

For those staying in Tokyo, it’s certainly not business as usual.

Writes Lin:

[B]lackouts and cutbacks in subway and train service, intended to conserve electricity, have made commuting difficult. In response, a number of international law firms have temporarily closed their offices. Among firms taking this step are: Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy; Herbert Smith; Jones Day; and Clifford Chance. Those firms which remain open, like Morrison & Foerster and Linklaters, have given staff the option of working from home.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 18, 2011 (boomark / email).